Miner&#39;s folding candlestick.



N. E. VARNEY.'

MINERS FOLDING GANDLESTIGK.

APPLICATION FILED 00T.l7, 1910.

1,01 1,878. Patnted Dec. 12, 1911.

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N.E.VARNEY.

MINEE'S FOLDING GANDLESTICK.

APPLICATION FILED 00117, 1910.

1,01 1,878. Patented Dec.12,1911

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21111111. I O O 55 immn O 1 Q 6 191121403020 v I gwuewtoz adv/ 6, @/@Wabfmuu NATHAN E. VARNEY, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

MINERS FOLDING CANDLESTICK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 12, 1911.

Application filed October 17, 1910. Serial No. 587,591.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NATHAN E. VARNEY, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city and county of Denver and State of Colorado, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Miners FoldingCandlesticks; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in miners folding candlesticks, myobject being to provide a device of this kind which while possessing allthe facilities for supporting it upon the various objects accessible ina miners work, shall at the same time be capable of being folded intosmall compass whereby it is adapted to be placed in the pocket of theowner and carried about with ease, the point of the spike and that ofthe hook being so concealed that they will not catch upon the garmentsnor interfere with the carrying of the device about in the pocket.

The invention posseses certain novel features of construction all ofwhich will be fully understood by reference to the accompanying drawing,in which is illustrated an embodiment of the invention.

In this drawing: Figure l is a front elevation of the device with thecandle in place. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same or a view lookingin the direction of arrow 2 Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section taken on theline 33 Fig. 1, looking downwardly or in the direction of the arrow.Fig. 1 is a section taken on the line 4l4 Fig. 1, looking toward theright or in the direction of thearrow. Fig. 5 is a front view showingthe device folded and ready to be inserted in the pocket. Fig. 6 is atop view of the same or a view looking in the direction of arrow 6 Fig.5. Fig. 7 is a rear view or a view looking in the direction of arrow 7Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a detail view of the hook removed from its supportinghub. Fig. 9 is a perspect-ive view in detail of the inner extremity ofthe spike. Fig. 10 is a section taken on the line 1010 Fig. 1, lookingtoward the right or in the direction of the arrow.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the views.

Let the numeral 5 designate the body or handle of the device, whichconsists of a plate of metal bent laterally at its rear end as shown at6, and in the same direction at its forward end as shown at 7. To thehandle member is attached a spring 8, one extremity of which is securedto the member 5 near its rear extremity as shown at 9. Intermediate itsextremities this spring plate is bent as shown at 10 to form a holderfor a candle 12. Beyond the candle holder the spring extends rearwardlyas shown at 13, its free end bearing against the member 5 as shown at1 1. This spring plate 8 should be made of spring steel and is soconstructed that the circular part 10 is normally sufficientlycontracted to securely hold the candle. It may, however, be opened toallow the candle to enter easily, by pressing forwardly on the extremity14 while the member 10 is moved outwardly. This allows the freeextremity to be moved forwardly sufficiently for the purpose.

Pivotally connected with the forward extremity of the member 5 is thespike 15, which consists of a small metal bar having a sharp pointadapted to enter a piece of wood or penetrate soft rock for the purposeof supporting the device in place in a mine. The forward extremity ofthe handle member where the spike is connected is offset from the bodyof the member 5 and is desig nated 16 in the drawing. This part 16 isslotted or bifurcated to receive the rear extremity of the spike, whichis connected therewith by a pivot pin 17. The inner extremity of thespike projects rearwardly from the pivot pin 17 as shown at- 18, thispart of the spike being recessed as shown at 19 to receive a projection20 formed on a sort of hub 21, which is pivotally connected with thehandle member as shown at 22 and carries a hook 23. This hook isjournaled in the pivoted hub as shown at 24, its inner extremity beingupset as shown at 25 to retain the hook in place. This inner extremityprotrudes through the hub far enough to engage the inner extremity ofthe spike below the recess 19 as shown at 26. By virtue of thisconstruction the inner extremities of the hook and the spike arearranged to interlock with each other when both are in position for useas illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. This interlocking construction isillustrated in Fig. at of the drawing.

In order to lock the hub of the hook against turning when the parts arein the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a leaf spring 27 is employed.This spring is secured at its rear end to the handle as shown at 28 andis adapted to protrude through a slot 29 formed therein. Intermediateits extremities the spring is provided with a laterally projecting lug30, to facilitate the movement of the spring by the pressure of thethumb of the user. The forward extremity of the spring is bent laterallyas shown at 31 so that it normally occupies a recess 32 formed in aflange 33 with which the hub 21 is provided, thus locking the hubagainst turning, whereby the hook is maintained in the position for useor that illus trated in Figs 1 and 2. This spring therefore indirectlylocks the spike against turning on its pivot pin, since the spike beinginterlocked with the hook cannot fold until the latter is released bythe unlocking of the hub. This is accomplished by pressing the forwardextremity of the spring 27 into and through the slot 29 far enough torelease the hub and when this is done, the hub may be turned so that thefree extremity of the hook shall move rearwardly. As soon as the hook isdisengaged from the spike by the turning of the hub in the direction ustexplained, the hook may turn freely in the hub and as soon as the hub isin such position, the hook is turned to cause its bent end to occupy aposition parallel with the handle member. The hook may then be moved orfolded to the position which it occupies when the device is in the formshown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7. \Vhen the hook is in this position, the spikemay be turned freely upon its pivot pin 17 until it occupies the foldedposition shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7 I11 order to allow the spike to fold,the forward part of the handle member is slotted as shown at 34. This isnecessary because of the fact that the inner extremity 18 of the spikeprotrudes beyond its pivot and if it were not for the slot 34 thisprotruding end would engage the handle member and prevent the completefolding movement of the spike.

In order to lock the spike in the folded position, the member 5 isprovided with a laterally projecting retaining device 35 which isangle-shaped, its outer extremity being bent parallel to the member 5 asshown at 36, forming a sort of hook underneath which the spike isallowed to pass when completely folded, this being actonr plished bygiving the spike a slight lateral thrust. In order to permit the spiketo fold to the position just explained, the candle-holding spring 8 isslotted as shown at 37, so that as the spike is folded it enters thisslot. The spike also presses the spring toward the handle member, thusplacing the spring under tension, whereby it has a tendency to pressoutwardly upon the spike and hold the latter tightly against theretaining device 35. The position of the candle-holding spring is bestillustrated in Fig. 6. On the contrary when the device is in positionfor use and the candle in place, the candle holding portion of thespring is held outwardly away from the hook 23, a considerable distanceas shown in Fig. 2. \Vhen the candle is removed from the spring, thelatter occupies approximately the position shown by dotted lines in Fig.2, that is to say, before the spike is folded. After the spike is foldedthe spring is thrust inwardly toward the handle to the positionindicated in Fig. 6, thus indicating the degree of tension to which thespring is subjected by the folding of the spike. The rear laterally bentend 6 of the handle member is curved as shown at 4 whereby the point ofthe spike when the latter is folded is better protected from possiblecontact with the clothing when the device is placed in the pocket.

In order to lock the spike against turning farther on its pvot pin 17after it has reached the extended position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, theouter extremity of the part 16 is provided with a stop 38 which extendsacross the part 16 forward of its slot and in the path of the spike whenthe latter is moved to its extended position, thus forming a stop toprevent farther turning as heretofore explained. This device 38 asillustrated in the drawing consists of a small plate applied to theforward end of the bifurcated part 16, the plate being recessed toreceive the spike when in the extended position, the part which formsthe stop to the farther movement of the spike being offset suflicientlybeyond the part 16 on one side to allow the spike to assume the properextended position.

From the foregoing description the use and operation of my improveddevice will be readily understood. The object of the spike and the hookare the same, that is to say, both members are intended for use insupporting the device in such a position that the lighted extremity ofthe candle will be uppermost. Under some circumstances it will be moreconvenient to use the spike, while under other conditions the hook willform the better support for the tool. lVhere there are wood timbers inthe mine the sharp point of the spike may be made to penetrate the woodsufliciently to support the device in the proper position, while underother circumstances it will be more convenient to suspend the device bythe use of the hook 23. However, when a flat support is affordable, thedevice may be placed thereon and will support the candle in the uprightposition without employing either the spike or the hook.

Attention is called to the fact that when the spring 27 is pressed tothe hub-releasing position whereby the hook-carrying hub is allowed toturn, the flange 33 of the hub moves to a position which prevents thespring from again assuming the locking position until after the hook isreturned to the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The recess 32 of thehub flange 33 is only of sufficient width to receive the lockingextremity 31 of the spring and as soon as the said extremity is pressedto the position to release the hub, the turning of the latter to causethe hook to assume the folded position, causes the flange 33 to coverthe forward extremity of the slot 29 and thus preventing the lockingextremity 31 of the spring from resuming its normal position. Hence thehub when the hook is in the folded position may be turned to extend thehook without any movement of the locking spring 27. Attention is furthercalled to the fact that in moving the hook from the folded position tothe extended position it is first moved outwardly far enough from thehandle to allow it to turn in the hub, after which it is turned to aposition at right angles to the folded position. The outward movementmay then be continued, since the inner extremity of the hook is then inposition to interlock with the adjacent extremity of the spike. It willbe understood that in unfolding the device, the spike must be firstunfolded or extended, after which a corresponding movement is impartedto the hook.

Having thus described my what I claim is:

1. A miners candlestick, including a handle member, a hub pivotallymounted thereon and provided with an opening, a spring secured to thehandle at one extremity, and provided with a projection at its oppositeextremity adapted to enter the opening formed in the hub for locking thehub against turning, and a hook connected in operative relation with thehub, substantially as described.

2. A miners candlestick, including a handle member, a hub pivotallymounted thereon, a spring secured to the handle and adapted to engagethe hub for locking the same against turning, the handle being providedwith a slot adjacent the spring, through which slot the spring isadapted to invention,

be depressed for releasing the hub, and a hook journaled in the hub onan axis extending at right angles to the axis of the hub, substantiallyas described. 3. A miners candlestick including a handle member, a hubpivotally mounted thereon and provided with a flange having aperforation, a spring member having a projection adapted to enter thesaid perforation to lock the hub against turning, a hook journaled inthe hub on an axis extending at right angles to the axis of the hub, anda candle holding device also carried by the handle member, substantiallyas described.

4. A miners candlestick, including a handle member, a hub pivotallymounted thereon and provided with a flange, a hook journaled in the hubon an axis at right angles to the axis of the hub, the inner extremityof the hook protruding beyond the hub, a spike also mounted on thehandlev member, its inner extremity protruding beyond the pivot, andrecessed to receive the flange of the hub when the hook and spike are inposition for use, the protruding extremity of the spike being alsoconstructed to interlock with the adjacent extremity of the hook whenthe members are in position for use.

5. A miners candlestick comprising a handle member, a hub pivotallymounted thereon, a hook carried by the hub, its inner extremityprotruding beyond the hub, the latter also having a flange or projectionextending beyond the body portion thereof, and a spike pivotally mountedon the handle member, its inner extremity protruding beyond the pivotand being recessed to receive the flange of the hub, while theprotruding part of the hook also engages the protruding extremity of thespike which in this event has a part located between the flange of thehub and the protruding end of the hook, for the purpose set forth.

6. A miners candlestick comprising a handle member, and a candle-holdingpart mounted thereon and composed of a spring having one extremityrigidly secured to the handle member and its opposite extremity free andengaging the handle, the spring being bent intermediate its extremitiesto form a loop, the loop being shaped to fit the candle.

7. A miners candlestick including a handle member and a candle-holdingpart mounted thereon, and composed of a spring, one extremity of whichis secured to the handle member, while the other extremity is free andbears against the handle member, the spring being shaped intermediateits extremities to receive and retain the candle, substantially asdescribed.

8. A miners candlestick including a handle member, a candle-holdingdevice comprising a spring having one extremity secured to the handlemember, While its other extremity is free and bears against the handlemember, the spring being shaped intermediate its extremities to receivethe candle, and a spike pivotally mounted on the handle member andadapted to fold against the candleholding spring, the latter beingslotted to receive the spike When in the folded position.

9. A miners candlestick including a handle member, a candle-holdingdevice mounted thereon and composed of a spring having one extremitysecured to the handle member, While the other extremity is free, and aspike pivotally mounted on the handle member and adapted to fold againstthe candle retaining spring, Which is placed under tension by the spikewhen in the folded position, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

NATHAN E. VARNEY. Witnesses F. E. BOWEN, A. EBERT OBRIEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

